From: SSVF

Sent: Monday, July 10, 2017 9:59 AM

To: SSVF

Subject: SSVF Program Update Friday June 23, 2017

Reminder: Clarification Regarding Mandatory Return of Funds for the 3rd Quarter

*All calculations will be completed after Q3 subaccount transfers have been processed. Please be sure to enter any necessary draw down requests no later than June 30th close of business eastern standard time.

As stated in each SSVF grant agreement, a grantee’s total expenditures (also known as draw-downs) must meet the minimum percentage milestones for each quarter.  If during the course of the grant year VA determines that grantee spending is not meeting the minimum percentage milestones below, VA may elect to recoup projected unused funds and reprogram such funds to provide supportive services in areas with higher need.   Please note that grantees do not submit physical invoices to the SSVF Program Office; therefore, quarterly expenditure rates are assessed using the draw down information available in the HHS Payment Management System.

For the third quarter, the minimum percentage milestone for spending is 65%.  The SSVF Program Office will assess grantee spending based on payment requests made no later than 5pm EDT on June 30, 2017. To clarify, what is meant by "being 65% spent" is that 65% or more of an organization’s SSVF grant funds have been drawn down from the HHS Payment Management System. The SSVF Program Office recognizes the above process is common practice so a favorable lag of 10% (or 5.2 weeks of expenses) has been incorporated into the quarterly minimums. This allows for a grantee to meet the minimum while still reconciling the previous month’s SSVF expenses. For this reason, it is absolutely crucial for grantees to frequently review their spending information.  There is no exception to the 65% minimum spending requirement for grantees, including those that had been on extension in the prior fiscal year.

The process for determining the amount of funds to be returned to VA by those grantees not meeting the minimum spending rate for the quarter will be as follows.

Identifying grantees below the minimum spending rate:  The SSVF Program Office will retrieve the HHS PMS spending reports on the second business day of the new quarter (8am EDT).  This report will be utilized to identify which grantees are below the 65% minimum spending rate.  Spending rates will be rounded to a whole number (i.e. 64.4% will be rounded down to 64% and 64.6% will be rounded up to 65%).

Calculating the amount of funds to be returned to VA:  The difference between 65% and the actual grantee spending rate reported by HHS PMS  will be recouped, or swept, from the OVERALL grant award.  For example, if a grantee is 60% drawn down, the difference is 5%. As such, there will be a 5% reduction of each of the subaccounts (ADM, SERVICES, TFA). The resulting amount will move a grantee closer to the quarterly minimum, with the understanding that this reduction may not always result in the grantee reaching  that minimum. The intent of the sweep is to 1) reprogram unused funds to provide supportive services in areas with higher need, and 2) to assist grantees in ensuring compliance with grant requirements and minimize the need for a program extension at the end of the fiscal year.

Returning funds to VA:  The unused grant funds, based on the calculation described above, will be swept from the HHS subaccounts on the second business day of the new quarter (for sweeps taking place after Q3, the second business day is July 5, 2017).. Please note that after funds are swept, a grantee may need to submit a Program Change in the subsequent quarter for modifications to their budget and/or HHS subaccount transfers.

What does this mean for the financial personnel of SSVF grantees?

The last day of the quarter is June 30th. Draw down requests can be made on this day by 5pm EDT. The Program Office will then wait one business day (July 3rd) for all requests to process. The next business day, which in this case is July 5th, at 8am EDT the Program Office will run a report to see where grantees stand in regards to meeting the 65% draw down requirement. These values will stand; there will be no exceptions. Since there will be no exceptions, it is recommended that grantee staff responsible for completing draw-downs do not wait until June 30th to do so. In addition, draw-downs made after 5pm EDT on the 30th may need an additional day to process. If a grantee finds it is necessary to wait until June 30th, it is important to enter the request early in the day.  (The 5pm EDT deadline applies to all grantees, including but not limited to those in locations on the West Coast, Hawaii and Guam.) If you have any questions, please contact the SSVF Program Office at ssvf@va.gov. Please include your grant number and "3rd Quarter Mandatory Return of Funds Question" in the subject of the email. Please cc your Regional Coordinator.

Thank you,

SSVF Program Office

NOTE:  If you are receiving this email in error, please disregard.  We request your patience as the SSVF Program Office continues to address system issues with the grants management database.